The Best Laid Plans
by O2Shea
Summary: Jasper and Alice take a trip to Paris for a romantic vacation. Everything goes beautifully until they alter their plans. JPOV.


I don't own anything about "Twilight". It's just my favorite place to play.

Alice and I took a long delayed trip to Paris in the spring and stayed at the deluxe hotel our family had been guests of for over a century. It was near everything we liked about Paris and our favorite suite had an excellent view of the Eiffel Tower.

It all started because we had such a wonderful evening the night before. Alice and I walked along the Champs-Elysees before retiring to our hotel room. We went out onto our balcony and made love until dawn before retiring to our bed where, needless to say, our lovemaking continued. It really was a glorious night and both of us reveled in it, possibly because we planned to return to the States the next day.

Then Alice murmured, "I wish we didn't have to leave. Can't we stay another week? It's been so long since we had a romantic getaway… I just don't want it to end."

I looked into her beautiful, wistful eyes and, as always, would swear my heart jumped just at the sight of her. "I don't see why not," I said carefully. "I'll see what I can do."

"Oh, Jazz! Would you?" She was instantly making plans for our continued stay. "We haven't been to Nice this trip… and we could drop by Monte Carlo and gamble a bit… Oh! And while we are so far south, let's take a short Mediterranean cruise. Then we can have a couple of nights back here before we go home. What do you think?"

"Whatever you want, darlin'," I couldn't help smiling as I answered her. My Alice was effervescent and it was impossible not to be caught up in her excitement.

That's why I was at the front desk the next morning asking to extend our stay. The desk clerk was polite, but firm. "I'm sorry, sir. That suite has been booked for some time, beginning tonight."

"I'll pay for them to go elsewhere and also pay an additional thousand euros per night if you would extend us in our suite," I offered.

The desk clerk spluttered and his superior, sensing his difficulty, came over. "May I assist you, Mr. Cullen?"

I repeated my offer and his brows rose.

He inclined his head. "One moment, sir." He spoke to his superior, repeating my request. The front desk manager dialed the hotel's general manager. He kept his voice low, but I had no trouble hearing him. "One of our frequent guests, one of the Cullens, wants to extend. The problem is that we are sold out… and that suite was requested especially." His voice got even lower and he sounded apologetic. "No, not a regular guest. An employee from the London property. Honeymoon. Not comp… since it's a suite, but at a discount. Wanted that suite, sir. The GM there arranged it with you."

The general manager's tone was incredulous. "An employee discount? It sounds as though Mr. Cullen is willing to put them up first class free of charge. Not to mention paying full rate plus a thousand euros a day. Perhaps someone can explain why this became my call when _**you**_ should have been able to arrive at an answer that accommodates a client as regular as the Cullen family."

"Yes, sir." The front desk manager came back to me, apologetic and obsequious. "Mr. Cullen, I am happy to extend your stay, as requested. Did you have a particular location where you wanted to accommodate Mr. Whiting and his bride?"

"Not at all. I reckon you'd know Paris hotels better than I would. Get them the finest honeymoon suite available," I answered him. "Have the bill sent here and use my card on account to pay it."

"Yes, Mr. Cullen." He seemed overwhelmed and that should have been my second clue. My first should have been his referral of our extension upstairs.

Since I knew nothing else of him, I assumed he dealt with pressure poorly and was having a stressful morning. It never occurred to me that he would completely forget to make reservations for the other couple.

Alice and I were in the middle of shopping when she became still in the way she did whenever a vision came to her. As it passed, she grabbed my arm.

"Jazz, a terrible mistake has been made. Someone else was supposed to have our suite."

"I know. I told you, darlin', that I took care of them."

"Maybe _**you**_ did, Jazz. But the desk manager _**didn't**_. The city is sold out."

"But…"

"It's Paris in the spring, my dear _**man. **_Not only is spring the perfect time to be here, but this week has many fashion designers showing. Any woman who follows fashion and can afford to be here is in town. That's why we weren't going south until after the showcases."

"So…"

Alice sighed. "Our suite is all we can offer, Jazz. We must."

Meanwhile, Mr. Whiting appeared at the hotel desk to check in early so that he could take his bride to the hotel and go directly to their suite. He was livid when the same desk clerk I had talked to told him his suite was not available… and neither were any other rooms. Since the front desk manager had not left a message on the reservation, the desk clerk had nothing to offer… except my name and description.

Mr. Whiting came looking for me. His wedding was at dusk so he had time and he decided he would have that suite… no matter what he had to do to get it.

Alice went into the hotel to pack us up and surrender the suite. She hated to miss the fashion shows, but decided that we could go on to Nice and do something nice for someone else.

I waited outside for her. It wouldn't take her long to get us on our way and she wanted to give the forgetful manager a piece of her mind.

Suddenly a man wearing a sweater and jeans… and a furious expression… barreled out of the hotel and into me. He looked into my eyes and squinted angrily. Head cocked, he asked, "Cullen?"

"Yes," I answered. I didn't know who he was but I had some idea and I did my best to calm him.

He threw off the wave of calm and refueled his fury. The next thing I knew, a gun was pressed into my side and he was gesturing to the alley that ran beside the hotel. Since I didn't want the encounter to attract the attention of anyone else or any bullets to harm pedestrians, I allowed him to maneuver me into the alley.

"Mr. Whiting," I began.

Wrong move. "I see you know all about me, too. Did you know that you were wrecking my honeymoon?"

I kept my face expressionless. "That was not my intention."

"No. Why should you care? I've dealt with your kind in London. You rich Yanks just care about yourselves and what you want. Well, your widow can fly home with your body tonight and _**we**_ will stay in _**our**_ suite!" He pulled the trigger before I could say anything else.

The fact that I was still apparently quite well scared him enough that he kept shooting until his magazine was empty. Then he looked scared as well as angry.

"What _**are **_you?"

"Someone you should never have met. Someone you should have listened to." _Someone who has no choice now but to end your life. _

Whiting tried to back away from me, but my hands shot out and I bit through his carotid artery. I tried to leave it at that, but the taste of blood was too much for me.

When I met Alice, waiting outside the hotel for me, she shook her head. "Oh, Jasper."

"I didn't mean to."

"I know. You did what you had to and there was so much blood…"

"We tried to fix this, but it was just screwed… What about his fiancée? Can we do anything there?"

"No," Alice said. "But she will be more relieved than anything else. He was abusive."

I sighed. "Then we got lucky."

She nodded.

That was why we didn't get to extend our romantic interlude after all… since Alice saw that we were needed at home. I didn't even want to know just yet what the new challenge was.

I sat back in my first class seat, wearing shades to hide my crimson eyes, and held my lady's hand. She understood and I knew our family would. I just wished we'd gone home, as planned. Robert Burns knew what he was talking about, "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley." Couldn't have said it better.


End file.
